1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method of controlling a washing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Washing machines generally refer to various apparatuses which are constructed to remove pollutants from laundry (or clothes) by chemical actions of water and detergent, physical actions of rotating an inner tub containing clothes, and the like. Such a washing machine includes an outer tub for containing water and an inner tub rotatably disposed in the outer tub to contain clothes. Some types of washing machines may further include a washing blade (e.g. pulsator). As the washing machine operates after loading the clothes into the inner tub, operations such as water supply, washing, rinsing, and dewatering are performed in accordance with a predetermined algorithm.
In operations such as washing, rinsing, and dewatering performed by a typical automatic washing machine, operation conditions are set according to an amount of loaded clothes. For example, an amount of water supply, rotational speed of the inner tub in dewatering operation (hereinafter also referred to as dewatering speed), rotating time of the inner tub during the dewatering operation (hereinafter also referred to as dewatering time), and the like are determined according to a measured amount of clothes.
Since the dewatering conditions such as dewatering speed and dewatering time are set based on an amount of clothes detected when said clothes are wet (hereinafter referred to as amount of wetted clothes), a detected amount of wetted clothes cannot serve as a barometer reflecting an actual amount of clothes excluding water absorbed in the clothes (hereinafter referred to as amount of dry clothes) in some properties of clothes (e.g., water absorption capacity). Accordingly, there is a problem in that efficient treatment of clothes cannot be achieved even though dewatering conditions are set according to an amount of wetted clothes.
For example, even though an amount of wetted clothes that is measured when summer clothing is introduced into an inner tub and an amount of wetted clothes that is measured when winter clothing is introduced into the inner tub are the same, the winter clothing should be treated at a higher dewatering speed or for a longer dewatering time than the summer clothing because the winter clothing absorbs more water than the summer clothing. However, in a conventional washing machine in which dewatering conditions are set based on an amount of wetted clothes, since both dewatering operations for the winter clothing and the summer clothing are performed in the same manner, there are problems in that the clothes cannot be optimally dewatered and power consumption efficiency is lowered.